Hope
by Achillia
Summary: After fleeing Earth to gather reinforcements Shepard returns to combat the Reaper invasion. Her fellow soldiers are glad to see her arrive. Set during ME3, spoilers from the ME3 promo material.


A/N Just a little something that sprang into my head and needed to come out. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks for checking yo-sirrah and for letting me have the evening off.

Bioware owns all.

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><p><strong>Hope<strong>

The call spread through the barracks like wildfire. It spread from the makeshift command centre in the middle of the city to the few soldiers desperately trying to hold the front line. It made its way underground where the last few remaining civilians were trying to hide. It spread through the encampment, where the wounded were lying on gurneys slowly bleeding to death. It meant only one thing. Hope.

Suddenly rifles held by exhausted hands were hoisted more securely into their owners' arms and once again began to hit their targets with pinpoint accuracy. Soldiers straightened up, grim determination replaced the expressions of weariness and exhaustion. Battle cries were once again heard, ranks reformed. Exhausted muscles were suddenly rejuvenated; inner reserves of strength were found. The _Normandy _had been sighted approaching Earth. Shepard was coming.

The message reached the former Captain as he crouched amongst the rubble his team holding out long enough to give the rest of the unit time to retreat. He looked skyward briefly and hoped he'd done enough. She would be smart he thought, she would wait until this flicker of hope burned itself out, until the men began to get tired again, until they began to believe that the call had been a lie. She would use her name to squeeze every last bit of fight out of them, and then she would appear. He hoped she had a plan, he hoped that she would win. He glanced down at his shattered leg, gingerly touched the wound in his side. A glance to his left and right told him that his team were in a far better condition than he was.

"Run!" he bellowed at them and without waiting for a further word they obeyed. The Captain looked skyward once more and sent a silent prayer. _'It's up to you now Shepard' _he told her and with that last thought Captain Anderson loaded his rifle, summoned the last of his strength and charged headlong into the enemy.

It was a serviceman third class who first spotted it, a green recruit, one of the many who had joined the Alliance because he was enamoured with her legend, one of those who had been the last to give up hope on the call. He pointed skyward and said one word.

"_Normandy_!" his comrades' gaze immediately turned to follow the direction of his finger. The entire company of soldiers saw the prow of the _Normandy _break through the clouds, a more glorious sight had never been seen. A few moments more and the legendary ship cleared the clouds, escorted on either side by what some of the more travelled among them recognised as vessels from the Quarian migrant fleet. They watched as the ships sped straight towards the nearest Reaper, narrowly avoiding the laser beams that had destroyed so many vessels before them. The _Normandy_ swooped in a graceful arc and, at its height, fired three shots into the belly of the beast. The soldiers watched in awe as the machine fell into the dust. The _Normandy _made one more sweep and sped towards the barracks, as it passed overhead a shuttle left the cargo hold and landed softly just behind their lines.

As Shepard's boots touched earth a cheer rose up, it was unstoppable. This was their hero come to save the day. The exhaustion of the past few days was forgotten in an instant as she stood before them, armoured, determined, igniting the fire of battle in all of them. That fire was only further ignited by the sight of the second human spectre leaping from the shuttle to stand at her side. The Turian was the last to exit closing the door behind him and tapping the window once, the shuttle took off immediately.

As the squad passed along the lines they couldn't help but reach out to touch her, to brush their fingers against her armour or to shake her hand. They needed proof that she was real, and could not help but wish to be as close to the legend as possible, as if they believed that the magic that surrounded her would rub off on them, like it had rubbed off on those who accompanied her. Finally she stood outside the command centre. Admiral Hackett had seen her approach and immediately opened the door to meet her.

"Shepard," He greeted his expression mirroring the joy and expectation of the soldiers, "Tell me you have a plan." He said and the hope of the entirety of the remaining members of earth's defensive forces hung on her answer. She stood tall, straightening up as if she could feel their hope on her shoulders and knew that she could carry the burden, her voice rang strong and clear across the battlefield.

"We have a plan." She replied.


End file.
